Bad Idea? Probably.

I said that Washington wasn’t gonna let us finish without a fight and man, oh man, today it put up a fight. I was jolted awake at 2:30 AM to the sound of pouring rain. I had just checked my garmin forecast before bed and saw clear skies were expected all day. When I woke up a second time to continuous rain at 6 AM, I knew it couldn’t be good.

I updated my garmin forecast again and saw rain. All day. Here we go. In tears, I put on my full rain gear, packed up my wet tent, and braved the storm, hopeful there would be a break when we needed it.

Today we were supposed to go over the Goat Rocks knife edge. The knife edge is a section of trail where you walk on a narrow trail with a sheer drop on both sides of you. I was already anxious leading up to today, but waking up to rain added an extra level of fear.

I hiked in the rain alone until I met up with Dromedary, Radio, and Pole Dancer who were all camped about 4 miles ahead of me. They were waiting out the morning rain, and waiting for me to catch up so we could hike in a group.

We hiked through the foggy, rainy meadows and turned the corner to see Old Snowy Mountain covered in a fresh dusting of snow. Oh boy. The higher we climbed, the lower the temperatures felt. Rain turned to snow, and it was only looking worse.

We quickly discussed our two options. We could either pitch our already wet tents and damp quilts in the storm where we would get more wet, more cold, and potentially have more snow and riskier conditions on trail. Or we could continue to hike in the storm, hope for a break in the weather, and get to a lower elevation as soon as possible. Both options presented different risks.

We ultimately decided to keep moving. We all agreed we would take it slow and steady, and stick together. The ascent to the knife edge was covered in snow. Drom was our fearless leader, guiding us over loose rocks and sticking as close to the red line as possible. The snow made it difficult to see our route, but he confidently led us safely.

There were two snow fields we had to cross. The cold temperatures and fresh snow made the existing boot pack feel icy and slick. I was terrified. Drom calmly guided ahead of me and Radio encouraged my every step from behind. My legs were shaking out of fear, but slowly I maintained three points of contact with my poles to make it across.

We turned another corner and saw the notorious knife edge ahead of us, dusted in white. We kept climbing, slow and steady. Somehow, after overcoming the sketchy ascent, the knife edge itself felt like a breeze. The path was a couple feet wide, and well defined. It didn’t feel as slick as the rocks we were climbing on the approach, and not nearly as slick as the ice fields. I think the fact that the encompassing fog made it difficult to see just how steep the drop off was worked in our favor.

Suddenly we reached the summit and the surroundings started to change. The gradual descent led us to trees, a soft dirt trail, and a steady flow of water in the running creeks. We reached the meadow and I felt like I could breathe again. Going over the knife edge in an active snow storm might be one of the sketchiest things I’ve done on trail. I was so scared. But I did it.

The other side of the meadow was completely clear of the storm. There was even a moment of sunlight. We all stopped for a break around 1 PM and I ate and drank for the first time since breakfast. I was too cold and too scared to take a break until then.

After conquering the knife edge, I felt like I could conquer anything. The rest of the day was going to be long, and we still had 1,700 feet more to climb, but it was a piece of cake in comparison. I put on my Taylor Swift playlist and enjoyed the newly snow covered Mt. Rainier peeking through every viewpoint.

The rest of Goat Rocks was stunning. I was loving every moment. My mood had completely turned around from the anxious mess I was this morning. We got to camp just 2 miles shy of White Pass, pitched our wet tents, got in our damp quilts, and finally rested after a very long, very hard day.